Understanding Your Paycheck: Wage and Hour Laws in Georgia Explained

Your paycheck is more than just a number—it’s a reflection of your hard work, your time, and the laws that protect your rights as an employee. Whether you work in Atlanta or elsewhere in Georgia, it’s important to understand the state and federal wage and hour laws that determine how much you’re paid, when you're paid, and what your employer can legally deduct. Here's what every Georgia worker should know about their paycheck.

Minimum Wage in Georgia: What You’re Entitled To

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What to Do If You’re Wrongfully Terminated: Steps to Take

Wrongful termination happens when an employer fires an employee for illegal reasons. Federal and state laws protect workers from being fired based on discrimination, retaliation, or violations of employment contracts. Discrimination includes firing someone because of race, gender, religion, disability, or other protected traits. Retaliation happens when an employer fires an employee for reporting illegal activity, workplace safety violations, or harassment. 

At-will employment allows employers to fire workers for any legal reason, but they cannot fire employees for illegal reasons, such as discrimination or retaliation.

Workplace bullying happens. When someone repeatedly mistreats an employee in a way that causes harm, that’s bullying. This can include verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, humiliation, or sabotaging work.
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Many people face religious discrimination each and every day of their lives. Sometimes it even occurs in the workplace. But luckily, if it does, there are things that can be done to stop it.

The workplace should never be a place for discrimination. Unfortunately, for far too many people it’s a reality. Often fearing job loss or retaliation, many fail to report inappropriate behavior – even if they are protected from it under the law.

Police officers are trusted to prevent and stop crimes from occurring. But while most do an excellent job of this, not every officer can be trusted. As with any profession, there are “bad apples.”

Recently a former Atlanta city employee has accused her former police supervisor of sexual harassment and is seeking a federal trial against the supervisor and the city for what she says is failure to stop the criminal behavior.

Hopes of Compensation

Michelle Anderson alleges that she has endured inappropriate actions from Wellington Clarke for more than two years.

Just because you have a disability, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be entitled to the same rights as someone without one. Unfortunately, this isn’t always what occurs; sometimes people discriminate against individuals with disabilities. This was the catalyst for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Act, which went into effect in 1990, entitles those with disabilities to the same rights for fair housing, education, public transportation, public accommodations, employment, and telecommunications. The ADA requires that businesses provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities and prohibits them from discriminating against them.

When someone suffers a workplace injury, it can greatly impact his or her life. Whether the employee’s injuries are physical and/or emotional, they are likely accompanied with financial distress. Workers’ benefits help to alleviate the financial strain on those who are injured in the workplace. When a worker is approved for Workers’ Compensation, they will receive weekly benefits until either their medical condition improves or when 400 weeks from the date of the injury have passed. But what about catastrophic injuries that prevent the worker from recovering or going back to work in any capacity?

Under Georgia’s state workers’ compensation laws, those employees who suffer a catastrophic injury are an exception.

In the state of Georgia, most employees are considered to be “at will.” This means that they can be terminated or may quit for any reason or no reason at all. However, there are some exceptions to this. There are certain protected classes of people. This means that employers are prohibited from terminating an employee simply because he or she falls into one of these classes of people.

With a shortage of workers in the workforce, more people are working longer hours than before. Unfortunately, not all of them are being compensated for their work.

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees are entitled to overtime pay. However, this is not true for independent contractors. In order to prove that you are an employee and are entitled to overtime pay, you must use what is called the “economic reality test.

Sometimes a job just doesn’t work out. Whether you had a difficult time with your co-workers or boss, or you found your job responsibilities to be intolerable, sometimes it’s in your best interest to leave your place of employment. Some people are able to secure a new job prior to giving notice, while others end up performing a job search after their two weeks are up.